BIG completes mass-timber "village of 29 pavilions" at Johns Hopkins
Danish architecture studio BIG and New York studio Rockwell Group have completed a student centre at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA made of a cluster of mass timber volumes that ascend up the building's sloped site.
Located on the edge of Johns Hopkins' Homewood campus in Baltimore, the Bloomberg Student Center was designed by BIG and interior architect Rockwell Group as the "first-ever" building to be dedicated solely to student life at the campus. It contains social spaces, as well as a food hall.
"Where student activities at Johns Hopkins University were once dispersed, they are now clustered at the Bloomberg Student Center, a village of timber pavilions climbing the natural hill on the university's edge," said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.
At 150,000 square feet (14,000 square metres), the building is composed of a variety of stacked, rectangular, mass timber volumes enclosed in glass and topped with flat roofs.
Large solar panels also top each volume as part of the project's aim to reach LEED Platinum certification.
"The building was conceived as a series of cascading, mass timber-framed volumes with flat, cantilevered roofs topped with nearly 1,000 photovoltaic panels, which generate approximately half of the building's electricity," said the team.
"The resulting 'village' of 29 pavilions is carved into its 30-foot sloped site."
On the interior, the building is largely open, defined by a central atrium that varies in height according to the building's volumes.
Entrances on each side of the building lead into the central space, with the main entrance and an outdoor plaza located at the building's lowest level along the adjacent Charles Street.
The food hall, as well as a cafe and resturant, are located at this level, while a grand staircase leads up through the space and is lined with lounge areas.
A 250-seat performance theatre and other, smaller rooms, such as a meeting space, dance studios, and club meeting rooms, are clustered around this central space, enclosed within individual volumes that ascend the four-storey building.
The interior palette is dominated by the exposed, mass timber structure and acoustic dowel-laminated timber (ADLT) ceilings, beams, and columns. Rockwell Group selected limestone and white oak millwork to complement the structure.
"We were inspired by the building's timber structure and column grid to organize a dynamic interior where natural materials, warm tones, and layered lighting create a sense of cohesion across a lot of different programmatic areas," said Rockwell Group founder David Rockwell.
Outside, patios and small landscaped gardens hug the building, which leads into the adjacent student quad at the top of the site.
As part of reaching LEED Platinum certification, the building uses water from a 20,000-gallon underground rainwater cistern, while its windows are double-glazed. Radiant floor heating also helps to minimise heat loss, according to the team.
Previously, Rockwell Group and Ennead Architects collaborated on the renovation of an academic building at the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, while BIG completed an academic building at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles.
The interior photography is by Nic Lehoux and the exterior photography is by Laurian Ghinițoiu
Project credits:
Landscape architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Ass., Inc.
Civil engineer: Whitman Requardt & Ass., LLP.
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer: WSP
Structural engineer, exterior envelope consultant: Knippers Helbig
Security consultant: Thornton Tomasetti
AV/IT and Acoustics consultant: Acentech
Lighting designer: L'Observatoire International
Code consultant: Code Red
Theater consultant: Charcoalblue
Elevator consultant: Lerch Bates
Food Service consultant: Ricca Design Studios
Door Hardware consultant: Campbell-McCabe
Specification consultant: Kalin Associates
Building Signage consultant: POR
Donor Signage consultant: Aston Design
Building enclosure commissioning: WJE
Animation: Squint/Opera
Owner's representative: MGAC
Construction manager:Clark Construction Group
Heavy timber design assist:StructureCraft
Exterior Curtainwall/Glass Assist: Lindner Group
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